A Message from Paul

I’ve had the great opportunity to partner with my primary teacher, Taoist Master Bruce Frantzis, to create a 10-week programme that will systematically build your foundation for all qi gong, tai chi and bagua forms—incredibly detailed and multifaceted arts considered to be lifelong practices. Each of the keys can be practiced alone or in tandem with any other keys to boost the benefits of Tao arts training.

The Five Keys are:

Tao Whole-body Breathing

Standing Qi Gong, including Sinking Qi + Outer Dissolving

Dragon + Tiger Medical Qi Gong Exercise 1

Cloud Hands Nei Gong

Tai Chi Circling Hands

Throughout the programme, you will learn each of the Five Keys in-depth, and weave in specific aspects of the horizontal (turning and twisting) and vertical (bending and stretching) planes of motion–supercharging and strengthening your core with each progressive lesson. Working with the horizontal and vertical planes together is what allows deeper access to your insides. It also forms the basis for circularity and eventually spherical motion in the internal arts, which all dedicated students aim to achieve.

I began training internal martial arts in the 1980s and not long afterwards had the good fortune to meet my teacher Bruce, who has brought one of the most–if not THE most–comprehensive and complete systems of nei gong (internal development) training to the West. Initially, I applied the material he taught me to healing my body from a serious motorcycle accident, but in time my journey became about a whole lot more, including high-performance training that I’ve considered myself privileged to be able to share with others since 1995.

In my courses and one-to-one coaching, I came to realise that five key exercises from my teacher’s system formed the foundation for all other exercises, including highly sophisticated and refined Tao arts like Gods Playing in the Clouds, tai chi, bagua and even Tao meditation. I found that a concentrated, in-depth focus on these five exercises led to personal development in my Clients and Students beyond my and, more importantly, their expectations.

For many years, I have emphasised these component practices in just about every course I teach, and the results people have achieved have ranged from overcoming debilitating injuries, restoring balance in their bodies to improving focus and mind-body awareness to being able to concentrate better for prolonged periods. I’ve watched as stress and tension has melted away and been replaced with a vibrancy and sense of life that is becoming too rare in the modern age.

What I want everyone to know is that these five exercises, the Five Keys, as I like to call them, are so easy to learn and train that you don’t have to be a genius in mind-body-qi to start feeling better now, start healing your body from injury, rid your body of the traumas that are stored inside you and start living a more peaceful and self-directed reality.

An Excerpt from Taoist Master Bruce Frantzis

Taoist Tai Chi + Bagua Master Bruce Frantzis

You could call these Five Key exercises the Secrets to Longevity or the Secrets to Great Qigong, Tai Chi and Bagua.

Paul is a gifted teacher who is fully dedicated to these arts, teaching and traveling full time in Europe. I have seen him help others build extraordinary energetic foundations in their bodies. Paul is able to embody the arts and break them down into easy steps, so that you have the best chance of success and to progress to great depths with these powerful Taoist energy arts.

The Five Keys take one core exercise from each of my foundational qigong sets, applying the Pareto principle which states that 80 percent of the results come from 20 pecent of the work. With these Five Keys you will learn practices that are at the core of each qigong set, tai chi and bagua. This program also serves as an excellent introduction to see what Tao arts and qigong sets you are naturally drawn toward studying.

There is an old saying, “It is better to do one thing well then a thousand things poorly.” I truly believe this program can help you learn core fundamental principles, that if done well, will better your practice. This is true for beginners and especially if you are interested in advancing to the highest levels. If you already practice any of the sets that are part of this program, you will discover deeper and deeper layers, rooting out your weaknesses and growing your potential each week.

Whether you want to recharge your current practice or learn the fundamentals for the first time, The Five Keys to Taoist Energy Arts is great way to create a daily practice ritual now to keep your body energetically fit and healthy.

Why Train the Five Keys

Senior Energy Arts Instructor Bill Ryan

“You won’t find a better guide into these core practices of qigong, tai chi, and other internal arts than Paul Cavel. His teaching is clear, concise, extremely well-organized, and fun. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced practitioner or teacher this is an invaluable program. Each time that I watch him present this material, he triggers me to consider some element of learning or teaching these keys that I hadn’t thought of before.”—Energy Arts Senior Instructor Bill RyanCo-Director, Toward Harmony Tai Chi & Qigong of Northampton, MA and Chief Instructor,
Energy Arts’ Dragon & Tiger Qigong Online Course

Exercising + Developing Your Mind: Breathing + Standing Qi Gong

Deep breathing techniques have been used by spiritual traditions since the dawn of time. Almost every stress reduction system of the modern age also includes some form of breathing exercises because breathing can be so helpful for calming down during stressful events and gaining access to your inner world. To say more, my teacher Bruce has said that if he could only teach one health practice it would be breathing because of how profoundly it affects health on every level.

The Dissolving technique systematically and progressively encourages the downwards flow of qi to:

More firmly ground and root your energy.

Help you become aware of physical and energetic blockages inside your body.

Clear any blockages you encounter in the physical or energy bodies, allowing you to let go and deeply relax.

Once you have dissolved any physical and energetic blockages—to the extent that you are able—you are ready to energise yourself with physical movements.

Boosting Energy: Dragon and Tiger Medical Qi Gong Exercise 1

The first movement from the Dragon and Tiger Medical Qi Gong system is designed to teach students how to stir up, brush and pull and push qi to release and neutralise stagnant energy.

Many students find it difficult to clearly feel qi en­ergy, even after some years of training. Dragon and Tiger Movement 1 can help you tune into and manipulate the eth­eric energy, commonly called the “aura”, with your hands in progressive stages that can yield profound results.

In time and with practice, the heightened aware­ness of qi energy can easily be transferred to other qi gong, tai chi and bagua, generating a different quality of motion in all forms. Ongoing practice of Dragon and Tiger strengthens and increases your etheric field, making it more tangible with increased spine and organ activity. All of it serves to help you pull and push more qi energy through your system, and achieve deeper relaxation and releases of bound energy.

Training on the Horizontal Plane of Motion: Clouds Hands Nei Gong

The weight shift is the base of Clouds Hands, the first movement in the Opening the Energy Gates of your Body Qi Gong system. In combination with turning and twisting, practice elongates the muscles and stretches the fascia.Over time and with accurate training, you can loosen the muscles off the bone, giving you greater freedom of motion and dramatically reduce tension. But that’s not all.

Since Cloud Hands activates bending-and-stretching, turning and twisting nei gong in such a profound way, it allows you to access and activate the kwa. This is where whole-body motion becomes a possibility–that which what makes blood circulate more powerfully through your body, drives production of interstitial and lymph fluids, and serves as an efficient tool for opening and healing the body.

I’ve had some pretty remarkable results in this past month, I really can’t thank you enough Paul for your wonderful teaching. My back is now better than it was before my injury– in fact, I can even sleep on my left side now, which I’d not been able to do since I was 15. Moreover, some upper leg and hip pain/stiffness I’d been experiencing for about a year miraculously disappeared.—Kym Brown, Vancouver, Musician and Music Teacher

Training on the Vertical Plane of Motion: Circling Hands Qi Gong

In Circling Hands, the kwa exercises go yet deeper into the body, creating a firm yet gentle massage for your internal organs, which further increases blood and fluid activation. In combination with the C-curve, this generates strong hydraulic activity that allows the body to be exercised from the inside out while remaining extremely relaxed. This is why Circling Hands releases the nerves and generates abundant qi—again, unparalleled technology not available in any modern exercise programme.

The Five Keys Qi Gong Practice Set

This programme creates a potent synergy for qi energy development. Beginners will learn the methodology for creating a firm grounding in nei gong, while experienced students and instructors will improve and systematically upgrade their qi gong, bagua or tai chi practice.

Internal Arts Teachers

If you’re a new Energy Arts Instructor or haven’t done much teaching, Paul’s breakdown of the material will give you insights into how to construct lessons. He’ll also help you improve nei gong basics, so you can model exercises correctly—on demand—for your students.

“I regularly reach out to Paul when I want more insight into how to structure my training. He is incredibly articulate about stages of practice, how different sets are interwoven, and exactly what attributes will be developed by the different components of the art. Paul gives me a clear framework for organizing my own practice and sharing it with my students.”—Dan Kleiman, Boston, MAProgram Director of Brookline Tai Chi, and
Energy Arts Qigong, Tai Chi + Bagua Instructor

“I’ve studied with Paul for 7 years and taught qigong for 2 years. The elements of his Five Keys programme have built the foundation for my personal qigong practice and teachings, especially weaving together the different threads of neigong. I regularly use material from Paul’s Five Keys programme in my qigong classes as well as elements of it in my daily work as a physiotherapist. The online course is a great guide for continuous improvement and in-depth understanding of qigong.”–Sebastian Heyer, Dresden, Germany, Physiotherapist + Energy Arts Instructor

The Five Keys to Achieve Your Goals

Each of the Five Keys has been adapted and refined for up to 3,500 years. They are proven to yield effective results for anyone who is willing to put in a little effort on a regular basis. Of course, the level you achieve always depends upon the clarity and accuracy of your practice. The unfortunate reality is many internal arts students–even those who have trained for many years–simply do not accurately train the various components that comprise complex qi gong, tai chi and bagua forms, and therefore don’t get the full range of benefits on offer.

For nearly two decades, Paul has helped his clients and students overcome common pitfalls and upgrade their forms with the five essential exercises that segue critical areas of all nei gong practice, both in form and content. Many of them have totally trans­formed their body-mind-qi matrix with accurate and dedicated practice of these five exercises alone.

“With the release of my Five Keys programme, my hope is to provide you with the mind-body skills you need to build your foundation in Tao arts training, refine and upgrade your forms, and ultimately direct your intent towards achieving any goal you deem worth pursuing.” –Paul Cavel

“I like Paul’s very structured teaching, and his detailed and clear explanations, especially because English is not my native language. Paul’s online course was great for deepening fundamental qigong movements and gave me a very good overview for building a weekly program and structuring my own qigong classes. It was the first time I did an online course and I liked to work in this format. It was easy to follow the practice lessons, they were clear and well built up. Besides the exercises I learned a lot of safety considerations and the value of qigong for health.”–Elisabeth Broicher-Wachter, Köln, Germany, Energy Arts Instructor

Join 5 Keys Membership Now >>You’ll have access to all course materials online for 12 months and video mp4s, audio mp3s and PDFs can be downloaded for keeps. This course is published by Energy Arts, Inc. and is available for three instalments of $39.95.

Here’s What Even More Students Are Saying…

“I attended Paul’s Five Keys to Taoist Energy Arts in London. My experience of the programme was invaluable in helping me further develop a solid foundation to continue enjoying and rapidly progressing in my tai chi and qigong practice. The programme addressed core skills and principles that I could transplant and apply immediately to other practices. It also delivered immediate results in, for example, releasing tension in my neck developed over long hours of computer use. This, added to Paul’s high teaching abilities, in particular his capacity to clearly articulate (and demonstrate!) what you are trying to embody made this programme highly enjoyable. I am happy to recommend this programme as I believe it will help you to progress steadily and unambiguously in your internal arts practice.”–Elena Moreno, London, Careers Manager at the University of Greenwich and Energy Arts Qigong Instructor

“I’ve known Paul for many years now and also had the chance to study his first online course. Paul has a very clear and precise style of teaching. Every exercise, every movement is split into its components and thoroughly explained from various angles. In his online courses he literally takes you by the hand and leads you through the practice step by step. The online course will be a good supplement to live teaching, either as an in-depth preparation or for reviewing the material.”—Dr. Michael Mettner, Stuttgart, Germany, Executive-Coach, Hypnotherapist, Non-Medical Practitioner and Energy Arts Qigong and Bagua Instructor

“Paul Cavel’s precise and clear teaching of the physical mechanics and the energetic flows has personally provided a solid foundation in my Qi Gong practise. This consequently has enhanced a capacity of receptivity to the deeper aspects of Bruce’s teaching. Paul’s Five Keys online course covers the fundamental aspects of Qi Gong which has provided this foundation.”—Pete Jenkins, Brighton, Energy Arts Level 2 Instructor

“The Five Keys are good for your health and well-being. The practise of the Five Keys has improved my health through improved mobility, better circulation noticeably the improved perfusion of blood in my hands and feet, good posture and interestingly coincides with a period of growing spiritual maturity. I whole heartedly recommend The Five Keys online course.”—Jeremy Burton, London, Osteopath

“I have been training with Energy Arts since 2001. Paul’s depth and breadth of understanding in the material he teaches is amazing. It’s obvious from spending just a little time with him that he has complete dedication to his practice and from this, his passion for the Tao arts and practices comes out in his teaching. Paul’s teaching style as well as his understanding of the material is what has kept me practicing and attending seminars. He is not only enthusiastic about what he teaches, but also has an innate ability to clearly and concisely teach, especially topics that for most of us can be very difficult to understand. Paul has a great ability to separate and combine complexity and then disseminate the information into easily graspable bite size pieces. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the arts attend and/or watch his teaching seminars. I have recommended that all of my students sign up to his online program and I believe that anyone with any amount of experience who wants to learn more from a genuine source, spend their time and effort learning from Paul’s program and/or courses.”—Mir Ali, Bedfordshire, Acupuncturist, Lifelong Martial Artist and
Energy Arts Bagua Instructor

About Paul Cavel's Team

Paul Cavel is the founder of The Tai Chi Space, a London-based school established to teach the philosophy and practices of Taoism’s Water tradition, passed down by Lao Tzu and other lineage masters through time. Since 1987 Paul has studied the I Ching, Five Element Theory and Old Taoism in-depth, including qi gong, tai chi, bagua, yoga, qi gong tui na energy healing and meditation. Paul is the editor of the Tao Journal and holds an ITEC certification in soft tissue and injury therapy.

The videos cover component practices that build up to:
* Whole-body breathing (i.e. into the internal organs and centre-to-periphery and pheriphery-to-centre breathing)
* Standing Qi Gong, including how to sink qi and dissolve (that can be applied to lying down, sitting, standing or moving)
* Dragon and Tiger Exercise 1, including etheric field techniques, such as pushing and pulling qi
* Complete Cloud Hands Nei Gong from Energy Gates Qi Gong
* Circling Hands, including the full kwa squat and C-curve

There are also several videos devoted to nei gong theory and practical applications for training. Of course, coverage of nei gong theory is also included in many of the how-to videos, as relevant.

You will also receive instruction how to put all five exercises together into a 5 Keys Qi Gong set. Paul offers both a video and audio download as guided practices.

I found your web site and the 5 keyes course. Unfortunately it states that the membership is now closed. Is the course therefore finished or what does that actually mean?

I’m practising Opening the Energy Gates and have been practising tai chi and qi gung for a few years. I would love to get deeper understanding to progress in my practise and your course sounded like the thing to do since I don’t believe I could find a good teacher here in Finland.

Hi Janne, The course will re-open in the first part of 2014 and then be available to join anytime. My office will reply to you shortly with more details. Please sign up for my email list (at the top of this page) to receive further notification about the course. Good luck with your practice until then!